10/04/2006 - THE OTHER HEAT PUMP
THE OTHER HEAT PUMP
Excerpted from the Jim W. Coleman book: LEVEL HEADS II
This is unedited copy, from first drafts, right off the top of the head...
Dominic Englund Montessori carried his bride, Jacqueline, over the threshhold and, after nearly tripping on a loose piece of carpeting, set her down awkwardly on the floor of their new home.
"Welcome to your new house, Jacqueline Alexandria Wintersteen-Montessori," he beamed, using his wife's full name for effect. Though he would never admit it, there was a bit of spite there; Jacqueline insisted that he use her first and middle names when addressing her: Jacqueline Alexandria. It was a constant flash point between them and occasionally, he used all four names to ridicule what he perceived to be her pretensious, shallow nature. This time, she missed the barb.
"I love you, Dominic," she said, pulling him close to kiss him properly on the cheek. "We're going to be so happy here."
Looking around the room, a look of disgust settled over her face to be quickly replaced with a look of dismay.
"Well," she corrected, looking back toward him, "we'll be happy once you get this place cleaned up."
"Look, Jacqueline Alexandria," he said, his tone encouraging and threaded with excitement, "I'll waste no time on it. I have a three-year plan--we've already been over this. Year one, the interior. These carpets will go and the walls will be painted. Year two will be the landscaping, front and back. In the final year, we'll get a new roof and exterior paint. If we can hang together on this for three years, we'll basically have a brand-new house, for the price of a fixer-upper!"
Jacqueline Alexandria didn't look so sure as she walked into the kitchen and poked the corner of an upturned linoleum piece with the toe of her designer pumps.
"I'm just worried about what our friends will think," she said, eyeing the old, avocado-colored appliances. This house is like a trip back to the seventies. We deserve better."
"And we'll have better," Dominic promised, confident that he could make it happen in two years rather than three. He told her as much.
"What about these old appliances?"
"Year one," Dominic answered, calculating dollar amounts in his head. With the current economic climate, the cost of new carpet, the cost of paint and the cost of appliances, he knew that his assurances were not realistic but life was a crap shoot. He'd just buy more lottery tickets and hope to hit the big one, or, in a worst case scenerio, open yet another line of credit.
"Besides," he continued. "It's not like these appliances don't work. They'll hold us for a while. And some of the major items look brand new. Did you see the heat pump out by the driveway?"
She nodded, still preoccupied with the poor condition of her new kitchen.
"That's a Westerford heat pump, hon. Top of the line. And it looks pretty new. None of the other houses in our price range have come with a heat pump. This is something we can really get in to."
"The home inspector said it was brand new," she said absently. "It's just a black box to me. I'm more worried about the kitchen. I can throw rugs over the carpet--I want this kitchen done first, Dominic."
"Okay. Fine, then. I'll do the kitchen first. Would having it done by three o'clock tomorrow be fine, Jacqueline Alexandria, your wifeliness?"